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Rahul Malhotra is a Weekend News Writer for Collider. From Francois Ozon to David Fincher, he'll watch anything once.
He has been writing for Collider for over two years, and has covered everything from Marvel to the Oscars, and Marvel at the Oscars. He also writes obsessively about the box office, charting the many hits and misses that are released weekly, and how their commercial performance shapes public perception. In his time at Collider, he has also helped drive diversity by writing stories about the multiple Indian film industries, with a goal to introduce audiences to a whole new world of cinema.
Swing and a miss > measured victory. Also, #JusticeForHan. (He/Him).
Star Sydney Sweeney had a particularly terrible 2025, which she fortunately managed to turn around in December with the erotic thriller The Housemaid. The movie earned positive reviews from critics and crowds, and is now on the verge of hitting the $150 million mark at the global box office, becoming her biggest hit since Anyone But You in 2023. However, before The Housemaid, Sweeney had appeared in four successive box office bombs. One of them, the survival drama Eden, has already proven itself on streaming, going from one platform to another and dominating the charts. It's now the turn of another, the long-delayed neo-Western film Americana, which holds the unenviable distinction of having grossed less than $1 million in its box office run. According to FlixPatrol, it was among the most-watched movies on the domestic Starz charts, climbing to the number three spot.
The film premiered at the 2023 South by Southwest Film Festival, but wasn't released theatrically until August 2025. In fact, it's about as old as The Last Stop in Yuma County, the underseen Coen Brothers and Quentin Tarantino-inspired film with which it shares many similarities. Americana featured Sweeney as a waitress who finds herself in the middle of a robbery plot, along with a runaway and her young child, Native American gangsters, and a strange cult leader of sorts. The film also featured Paul Walter Hauser, Halsey, and Eric Dane. Americana was produced on a reported budget of $9 million, but it earned less than $1 million in its box office run. However, it earned mostly positive reviews, and is now sitting at a 63% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the consensus reads, "Americana blends gritty charm, compelling performances, and cultural resonance, but its lack of narrative focus and inconsistent execution keep it from fully realizing its potential." The film's audience score is resting at a slightly superior 76%, which explains its streaming success.
Sydney Sweeney Is Returning to Familiar Territory
In 2025, Sweeney also starred in the sports drama Christy, which was positioned as a potential Oscar vehicle for her, but fizzled out due to mixed reviews and poor box office response. A year earlier, she played a supporting role in the superhero bomb Madame Web, led by Dakota Johnson. She also starred in two streaming films, Echo Valley and Reality. After The Housemaid, she will appear in the long-awaited third season of HBO's Euphoria and The Devil Wears Prada 2.
You can watch Americana at home, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Release Date August 15, 2025
Runtime 110 minutes
Director Tony Tost
Writers Tony Tost
Producers Aaron L. Gilbert, Michael R. Williams, Terry Dougas, Ali Jazayeri, Jason Cloth, Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis, Steven Thibault, Alex Saks, David Gendron, Jean-Luc De Fanti, Suraj Maraboyina, Bavand Karim
English (US) ·